Multifaceted gemstones with connecting link

ABSTRACT

A gemstone and link assembly for forming a piece of jewelry. The gemstone is cut to provide enhanced brilliance and radiance. The gemstone is securely maintained within the link. The link is fabricated of reduced metal thus providing an aesthetically pleasing assembly.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to items of jewelry and moreparticularly to multifaceted gemstones and links securing the gemstonesfor assembly into pieces of jewelry.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Present day jewelry items, such as bracelets, necklaces, earrings andpendants, in the form of chains of precious metal (e.g., gold, silver orplatinum) are well known. Such chains are formed of links of such metal.In order to enhance the aesthetic appeal of these jewelry items,designers have substituted gemstones for one or more of the links. Thesegemstones are set in conventional metal settings where the metal issubstantially visible, especially when viewed from the side or back ofthe jewelry item. This detracts from the jewelry item as a whole as theitem is unable to provide a complete gemstone look. Still further, thestandard gemstones used in such items often lack radiance or brilliancethus further detracting from the aesthetic appeal of the jewelry piece.

Thus, there is a need to provide a multifaceted gemstone and linktherefor for use in an item of jewelry which overcome the disadvantagesof previously known jewelry items.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, one aspect of the present invention is to provide a newmultifaceted gemstone and link therefor for an item of jewelry whichovercome the disadvantages of prior gemstones linked in jewelry items.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a new multifacetedgemstone and link therefor for an item of jewelry which can decrease theamount of metal required for the link.

Yet a further aspect of the present invention to provide a newmultifaceted gemstone and link therefor for an item of jewelry whichsecurely attaches the gemstone to the link.

A still further aspect of the present invention is to provide a newmultifaceted gemstone and link therefor for an item of jewelry in thatthe gemstone, when mounted in the link, provides a complete look thatemphasizes the gemstone and minimizes the metal of the link even whenthe combination is viewed from the rear and sides.

Another aspect of the present invention to provide a new multifacetedgemstone and link therefor for an item of jewelry which enables thejewelry item to have radiance and brilliance.

These and other aspects of the invention are achieved by providing agemstone having a front and a back, the gemstone comprising a lowerpavilion and an upper crown. The crown has a top surface and a pair oflongitudinally opposed multifaceted sides that slope downwardly awayfrom the top and towards the pavilion. The top surface of the crown hastwo laterally opposed top surface portions that are separated one fromthe other by a single horizontally directed linear straight peak thatruns in a longitudinal direction between said sides. Each top surfaceportion slopes downwardly towards the front and back of the gemstonerespectively. The pavilion has a bottom surface defined by at least onelongitudinally opposed horizontally directed planar bottom portion.

First and second gemstones according to the present invention are usedto form a jewelry element or assembly including at least one link. Thelink has a spacer for separating the gemstones one from the other in anopposed spaced relationship. The link further has a leaf member havingfirst and second angularly directed leaf arms which form av-configuration. The first leaf arm abuts at least a portion of themultifaceted side of the first gemstone and the second leaf arm abuts atleast a portion of the multifaceted side of the second gemstone.

These and other aspects of the invention, together with features andadvantages thereof, will become apparent from the following detaileddescription of several preferred embodiments, when taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is perspective view of a gemstone according to one embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 1B is a top plan view thereof;

FIG. 1C is a front elevation view thereof;

FIG. 1D is a side view thereof;

FIG. 1E is a bottom plan view thereof;

FIG. 1F is a cross sectional view of the invention taken along line F-Fof FIG. 1B;

FIG. 1G is a cross sectional view of the invention taken along line G-Gof FIG. 1B;

FIG. 2A is perspective view of a gemstone according to a secondembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2B is a top plan view thereof;

FIG. 2C is a front elevation view thereof;

FIG. 2D is a side view thereof;

FIG. 3A is perspective view of a gemstone according to a thirdembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3B is a top plan view thereof;

FIG. 3C is a front elevation view thereof;

FIG. 3D is a side view thereof;

FIG. 4A is perspective view of a gemstone according to a fourthembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4B is a top plan view thereof;

FIG. 4C is a front elevation view thereof;

FIG. 4D is a side view thereof;

FIG. 5A is perspective view of a gemstone according to a fifthembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5B is a top plan view thereof;

FIG. 5C is a front elevation view thereof;

FIG. 5D is a side view thereof;

FIG. 6A is perspective view of a gemstone according to a sixthembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6B is a top plan view thereof;

FIG. 6C is a front elevation view thereof;

FIG. 6D is a side view thereof;

FIG. 7A is perspective view of a gemstone according to a seventhembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7B is a top plan view thereof;

FIG. 7C is a front elevation view thereof;

FIG. 7D is a side view thereof;

FIG. 8 is an exploded view showing two gemstones according to thepresent invention along with two links and attaching wires for usetherewith used to form a jewelry assembly;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged partially perspective view showing further detailsof one of the gemstones shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged perspective view showing further details of oneof the links shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a front elevation view of the assembled gemstone and link ofthe present invention;

FIG. 12 is a top plan view of the assembled gemstone and link of FIG.11;

FIG. 13 is a side elevation view of the assembled gemstone and link ofFIG. 11;

FIG. 14 is a cross sectional view of the assembled link and gemstone oftaken along the line 14-14 of FIG. 11; and

FIG. 15 shows a plurality of assembled gemstones and links of thepresent invention joined together to form part of a piece of jewelry.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring particularly to FIG. 1A-FIG. 1G, a gemstone according to thepresent invention is generally designated 10. Gemstone 10, which has afront 12, a back 14, a top 16 and a bottom 18, also includes a lowerpavilion 20 and an upper crown 22. Advantageously, gemstone 10 does notinclude a table nor does it include a girdle.

Upper crown 22 has a front 24, a rear 26, a right side 28, a left side30 and corners 32. The upper crown also defines a crown top surface 34and a pair of longitudinally opposed multifaceted sides 36 that slopedownwardly away from top surface 34 and towards pavilion 20. Crown topsurface 34 has two laterally opposed top surface portions 38. Each topsurface portion 38 has a central facet 40. Advantageously, central facet40 is in the form of a triangle having sides 40 a, 40 b and 40 c.Central facets 40 meet at sides 40 c to form a straight generallyhorizontal linear peak 42 that runs in a longitudinal direction betweenmultifaceted sides 36. One of surface portions 38 slopes downwardly in alateral direction away from peak 42 towards front 24 of crown 22. Theother of said surface portions 38 slopes downwardly in a lateraldirection away from peak 42 towards rear 26 of the crown. Each topsurface portion 38 also includes a pair of opposed side facets 44.Advantageously, side facets 44 are in the form of a trapezoid or atruncated triangle having sides 44 a, 44 b, 44 c and 44 d, with sides 44c and 44 d parallel to each other. Side 40 b of central facet 40 iscommon to one of the sides of side facet 44 and side 40 a of centralfacet 40 is common to one of the sides of the other of side facet 44.

Longitudinally opposed multifaceted sides 36 include facets 46 in theform of narrow triangular top facets 46 a, larger triangular side facets46 b and triangular front and rear facets 46 c. When viewed from thefront, facets 46 are stepped forming crown angles a, b and c. Whenviewed from the side, facets 46 form crown angle d.

Pavilion 20, which has a front 48 a, a rear 48 b and sides 48 c and 48d, has a bottom surface 49 which is formed by a pair of longitudinallyopposed horizontally directed planar bottom portions 50 and inwardlydirected planar bottom portions 52 which are disposed between bottomportions 50. Bottom portions 52 are longitudinally slanted upwardlytowards one another. Together bottom portions 52 form a pavilion anglee. Pavilion 20 may also include narrow rectangular facets 54 which arelocated along front 48 a, rear 48 b and sides 48 c, 48 d of thepavilion. Pavilion 20 also includes rounded corners 56. Corners 56 ofpavilion 20 and corners 32 of crown 22 define gemstone corners 58 whichmay be formed with facets 60.

Gemstone 10 has a width W, a length L and a height H. Height H is formedof crown height H1 and pavilion height H2. Advantageously, height H isin the range of 30% to 70% of length L, while crown height H1 is in therange of 20% to 60% of length L. Likewise, advantageously crown angle ais in the range of 10° to 40°, crown angle b is in the range of 15° to50°, crown angle c is in the range of 20° to 70°, crown angle d is inthe range of 30° to 70° and pavilion angle e is in the range 100° to160°.

FIG. 2A-FIG. 2D illustrate another embodiment of the invention. Like thefirst embodiment, gemstone 10 has a lower pavilion 20 and an upper crown22 (the same reference numerals will be used herein for similar orcorresponding parts). Thus, it also has a crown surface 34 havinglaterally opposed surface portions 38 and longitudinally opposedmultifaceted sides 36, and opposed surface portions 38 including centralfacets 40 and side facets 44 which define a lateral and generallyhorizontal peak 42. As in the previous embodiment, opposed surfaceportions 38 slope downwardly from peak 42, with one of the surfaceportions sloping towards the rear 26 of crown 22 and the other surfaceportion sloping towards the front 24 of the crown. As previouslydescribed, the gemstone includes a bottom surface 49 of pavilion 20having longitudinally opposed horizontally directed planar bottomportions 50 and inwardly directed planar bottom portions 52 which arelongitudinally slanted upwardly towards one another to form a pavilionangle e. However, rather than being substantially straight and parallelone to the other as in the embodiment of FIG. 1A-FIG. 1G, the front 24and the rear 26 of the crown are tapered. Specifically and as shown inFIG. 2 b, front portion 24 a tapers laterally towards rear portion 26 aand rear portion 26 a tapers laterally towards front portion 24 a.Likewise, front portion 24 b tapers laterally towards rear portion 26 band rear portion 26 b tapers laterally towards front portion 24 b.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3A-FIG. 3D, the front 24 and the back 26 ofthe crown are each divided into three portions. Two of the threeportions, namely front portion 24 c and rear portion 26 c taper one tothe other in a lateral direction and front portion 24 d and rear portion26 d also taper one to the other in a lateral direction. However thethird portions, namely front portion 24 e and rear portion 26 e, aresubstantially parallel to each other.

FIG. 4A-FIG. 4D shows an embodiment in which both front side 24 and rearside 26 of crown 22 are straight and substantially parallel, but wherecrown side 28 is greater than crown side 30.

In FIG. 5A-FIG. 5D, front side 24 and rear side 26 of crown 22 arestraight and substantially parallel, but where crown sides 28 and 30 aresubstantially curved. Because of this curvature, gemstone corners 58 arelarger than the gemstone corners 58 in the prior embodiments.

In the embodiment of FIG. 6A-FIG. 6D, front portion 24 a and rearportion 26 a taper laterally toward each other and front portion 24 band rear portion 26 b taper laterally toward each other. However in thisembodiment, the taper is greater than the taper in the embodiment ofFIG. 2A-FIG. 2B and crown sides 28 and 30 are each substantially curvedand smaller than the corresponding sides in the embodiment of FIGS.5A-FIG. 5B.

The embodiment of FIG. 7A-FIG. 7D is similar to the embodiment of FIG.6A-FIG. 6D. However and in contrast to that embodiment, rather thanbeing curved, crown sides 28 and 30 are now straight and parallel toeach other.

It will be appreciated that gemstone 10 has a cut which providesradiance and brilliance. This is achieved by crown top surface 34 andlongitudinally opposed multifaceted sides 36 on crown 22 and/or by theinwardly directed bottom portions 52 on pavilion 20.

FIG. 8-FIG. 15 illustrate how gemstones 10 may be assembled with linksto form a jewelry element or assembly 62 that may be used in a piece ofjewelry.

FIG. 8 shows the components of jewelry assembly 62. Assembly 62 includestwo gemstones previously described. Thus, first gemstone 64 and secondgemstone 66 each have a pavilion 20 and a crown 22. As previouslydescribed, each crown includes longitudinally opposed multifaceted sides36. Also as previously described, pavilion 20 includes horizontal planarbottom portions 50 and inwardly directed bottom portions 52, whichlatter portions form a v-shaped configuration. Assembly 62 also includeslinks 68 and fastening members which may take the form of wire 70. Aswill be explained, wire 70 extends through a passageway 72 (see FIG. 9)formed in each gemstone which extends from bottom portion 50 of pavilion20 to a multifaceted side 36 of crown 22. Although only one passageway72 is shown in FIG. 9, each gemstone has two passageways, one passagewaybeing near one end of the gemstone and the other passageway being nearthe other end of the gemstone.

As shown in FIG. 10, link 68 includes a leaf member 74 and an eye 76,the latter used to connect the link of one assembly to the link ofanother assembly. Leaf member 74 includes angularly directed leaf arms78 which form a generally v-shaped configuration. Each leaf arm 78 isangled to correspond to crown angle c (see FIG. 1C). Leaf arms 78include an aperture 80 which runs from the top surface 78 a of the leafarm to bottom surface 78 b of the leaf arm.

Link 68 also includes a spacer 82 which functions to separate firstgemstone 64 from second gemstone 66 in an opposed spaced relationshipwhen the gemstones are connected to the link. Spacer 82 is generallyrectangular in configuration having opposed parallel planar side walls84 and a planar end wall 86 located between the side walls at one end ofthe spacer. The spacer also includes a v-shaped end wall 88 at the otherend of the spacer which is complementary with the v-shaped configurationof leaf arms 78. Spacer 82 may include decorative gemstones 90 mountedin fittings 92 located at the top and at the bottom of the spacer. Apassageway 94 which runs through the spacer at side walls 84 is alsoprovided.

FIG. 11-FIG. 14 show the various components of assembly 62 assembledtogether. As shown therein, links 68 receive first gemstone 64 andsecond gemstone 66, with leaf arms 78 configured to abut at least aportion of the multifaceted sides 36 of each gemstone at leaf armsurface 78 b. This abutting configuration is due to the fact that eachleaf arm 78 is angled to conform to crown angle c of the gemstone.Spacer 82 of each link 68 separates the first and second gemstones onefrom the other in an opposed spaced relationship. Specifically, spacerplanar side wall 84 abuts first gemstone 64 at bottom portion 50 of thepavilion of that gemstone and the other spacer planar side wall 84 abutsthe second gemstone 66 at the bottom portion 50 of that gemstone'spavilion. In this regard, it should be noticed that the spacer planarside walls 84 do not extend past bottom portions 50 of the pavilions andthus do not extend to the inwardly directed bottom portions 52 locatedat the bottom of the pavilions. In other words, the spacer does notextend longitudinally into the v-shaped configuration formed at thebottom of each pavilion. Not only does this provide a “clean” appearancein the form of a hexagonal shape when viewed from the side (see FIG.11), but this also enables the v-shaped configuration at the bottom ofeach pavilion to enhance the brilliance or radiance of the assembly. Italso will be appreciated that link 68 is formed of reduced metal ascompared to conventional links previously used. This provides anaesthetically pleasing appearance for assembly 62.

In order to fasten gemstones 64 and 66 to link 68, wire 70 is insertedthrough aperture 80 in leaf arm 78, through passageway 72 in firstgemstone 64, through passageway 94 in spacer 82, through passageway 72in second gemstone 66 and through passageway 80 in the other leaf arm 78of the link. Advantageously, wire 70 may be soldered or otherwiseconnected to each leaf arm 78 and then finished so as not to detractfrom the appearance of assembly 62. For purposes of clarity, wire 70 isnot shown in FIG. 11-FIG. 14.

FIG. 15 shows an assembly 62 connected to other assemblies 62 at eyes 76to form a piece of jewelry 96. It will be appreciated that in jewelrypiece 96, assemblies 62 provide a look which emphasizes the gemstoneswhile minimizing the metal of the link. Thus, the overall look ofjewelry piece 96 is one of gemstones, rather than metal.

Thus, the present invention provides a multifaceted gemstone and linkassembly for an article of jewelry which decreases the amount of metalrequired for the link. The gemstone is also securely attached to thelink preventing loss of the stone.

The gemstones may be varied by changing the rear, front and sides of thecrown, while still retaining a common cut which provides radiance andbrilliance of the stone. The cut is also configured so that the gemstonecan be placed within the link.

While the present invention has been described with reference to severalpreferred embodiments, the invention should not be so limited. Forexample, while the multifaceted gemstones 64 and 66 are preferablysecured to link 68 by wire 70 which runs through passageways in thegemstones and the link, the gemstones might secured to the link in otherways. For example, the gemstones might be glued to the link by applyingglue to spacer sidewalls 84 and/or to leaf arm surfaces 78 b. As anotherexample, the bottom of pavilion 20 may be completely flat with inwardlydirected bottom portions 52 eliminated or, if desired, inwardly directedbottom portions 52 may be “stepped” wherein the individual surfaces 52are formed of a plurality of planar surfaces.

The scope of the invention will now be set forth in the followingclaims:

1. A gemstone having a front and back, the gemstone comprising a lowerpavilion and an upper crown, the crown having a top surface and a pairof longitudinally opposed multi-faceted sides that slope downwardly awayfrom said top and towards said pavilion, the top surface of the crowncomprising two laterally opposed top surface portions that are separatedfrom one another by a single horizontally directed straight linear peakrunning in a longitudinal direction between said sides with each topsurface portion sloping downwardly in a lateral direction away from saidpeak and towards said front and back respectively, said pavilion havinga bottom surface, said bottom surface having at least one horizontallydirected planar bottom portion.
 2. The gemstone of claim 1, wherein eachtop surface portion comprises a central facet and a pair of opposed sidefacets.
 3. The gemstone of claim 2, wherein said side facets areinwardly slanted in a longitudinal direction away from said opposedmulti-faceted sides and towards said central facet.
 4. The gemstone ofclaim 2, wherein said central facet is triangularly configured withfirst, second and third sides and said side facets have a truncatedtriangular configuration.
 5. The gemstone of claim 4, wherein the firstsides of each of said triangularly configured central facets are commonto one another and thereby define said linear peak.
 6. The gemstone ofclaim 4, wherein the second of said sides of each central facet iscommon with one of the sides of one of the pair of opposed side facetsand the third of said sides of each central facet is common with one ofthe sides of the other of the pair of opposed side facets.
 7. Thegemstone of claim 1, wherein said bottom surface being defined by a pairof longitudinally opposed horizontally directed planar bottom portionsbetween which are a pair of intermediate planar bottom portions that arelongitudinally slanted upwardly towards one another and which togetherform an inverted v-shaped configuration.